Pawn Shop Circuit: #497
Because of the new year and new deductibles on health care insurance, my case load was light today. I left the hospital early, and drove over to Neil's pawn shop. I could tell Neil was glad to see me, he looked up from his newspaper when I came through the door. He had an unusual supply of paintball guns in his case. That was a new one for me. In addition to the splatter toys, he had an air soft gun, a worn out cowboy gun, and a Glock. The case was so full of tacticality that I almost missed another black pistol at the bottom.
Neil must have seen the spark on my frontal lobe as my gaze fell on a Kimber. He put his paper down and got up to pull the pistol out for me. I opened the chamber, confirmed it was unloaded and began my 1911 checklist. Everything looked OK, but I wasn't pleased at all with the cheapo extended slide stop. The magazine follower would not raise it to engage the slide.
It was a Pro Carry, a Series 1 Kimber....No firing pin safety and the extractor was inside the slide. The trigger was nice, and the pistol did not appear to have been used much. The sights had been changed out for Tru Glo replacements. I wondered if the rubber front strap covering concealed that awful Kimber checkering. That ugly Good Year thing would have to go. The rear of the slide was emblazoned with a NRA emblem on each side that proclaimed the pistol to be #497 of 750.
I asked if I could field strip the gun. It had a bushingless bull barrel, so I questioned Neil whether a box came with the pistol. He nodded and dug a plastic Kimber case from underneath the counter. Inside I found not only the documents and takedown tool, but also the original slide stop. I removed the slide and had a look. The pistol was dry as mummy crap. The frame was lightweight, probably aluminum, I thought. The mainspring housing was plastic. The interior of the gun showed no wear. I reassembled the pistol slowly as I calculated what it would take make it carry worthy. Nothing really, assuming it was reliable. Take off the finger groove rubber, and put 500 trouble free rounds down range through it.
I turned over the tag. $649. I asked Neil if he could go $550. He countered with $600. Deal.
Neil must have seen the spark on my frontal lobe as my gaze fell on a Kimber. He put his paper down and got up to pull the pistol out for me. I opened the chamber, confirmed it was unloaded and began my 1911 checklist. Everything looked OK, but I wasn't pleased at all with the cheapo extended slide stop. The magazine follower would not raise it to engage the slide.
It was a Pro Carry, a Series 1 Kimber....No firing pin safety and the extractor was inside the slide. The trigger was nice, and the pistol did not appear to have been used much. The sights had been changed out for Tru Glo replacements. I wondered if the rubber front strap covering concealed that awful Kimber checkering. That ugly Good Year thing would have to go. The rear of the slide was emblazoned with a NRA emblem on each side that proclaimed the pistol to be #497 of 750. I asked if I could field strip the gun. It had a bushingless bull barrel, so I questioned Neil whether a box came with the pistol. He nodded and dug a plastic Kimber case from underneath the counter. Inside I found not only the documents and takedown tool, but also the original slide stop. I removed the slide and had a look. The pistol was dry as mummy crap. The frame was lightweight, probably aluminum, I thought. The mainspring housing was plastic. The interior of the gun showed no wear. I reassembled the pistol slowly as I calculated what it would take make it carry worthy. Nothing really, assuming it was reliable. Take off the finger groove rubber, and put 500 trouble free rounds down range through it.
I turned over the tag. $649. I asked Neil if he could go $550. He countered with $600. Deal.
Labels: Kimber, Pawn Shop Circuit
posted by Xavier at 6:14 PM
5 Comments:
Nice! As far as I am aware, all factory Kimber mainspring housings are plastic, but I haven't heard of any of them failing. I'm with you on the frontstrap checkering, but it does seem to work. at its intent. Congratulations on your good find, and better price.
It sounds as if you got a decent deal.
The rubber frontstrap finger-forcer has got to go, check; and for my large hands I would need an arched mainspring housing anyway. (I ditched the plastic mainspring housing for a S&S Mainspring Housing/magwell adaptor, for IPSC competition, when I bought my Kimber 7 years ago.)
I'm a big believer in Kimbers. they're the Timex of 1911's: They take a licking and keep on ticking.
I would recommend not using the factory mag. I found that in my tactical pro carry II that the Kimber mag had trouble loading the first round into the chamber. After that it was ok but that is only good if you never need to load a second clip. Just thought I would mention it. Great gun not so great clips. By the way I love your blog. Thanks
Kimber uses a polymer mainspring housing on all of their lightweight offerings. No big deal to me, but some folks don't like any plastic on their guns.
Agreed the rubber grips have to go. A nice set of double diamond wood grips and you are set.
Wilson Combat Mags work well in my Pro Carry II. Have had it in stock condition for a couple of years now and nary a stoppage or major malfunction. As a matter of fact, I think it is time to give it a once over and rotate the SD ammo out of it.
Good find, Xavier. Have fun with it.
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